Notable
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(January 27, 2000, Gazette)
Keith Nicol, (right) associate professor of geography
at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College and co-ordinator of the Winter
Outdoor Pursuits Program, has been elected as national technical
chairman as the Canadian Association of Nordic Ski Instructors.
Mr. Nicol also serves as national newsletter editor and Atlantic
Province’s board and technical representative for the 800-member
organization.
Dr. Elliott Leyton, Anthropology, has been named Lady Davis Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for autumn 2000.
New Brunswick Power and NSERC have announced a CRD grant $160,000 over four years for research by Dr. Peter Tremaine, Chemistry, and his group on the solubility and redox behaviour of sodium-phosphate hideout reaction products under conditions encountered in CANDU 600 reactors. The work is the latest in a series of projects awarded to Dr. Tremaine by the electric power industry for basic research aimed at understanding the interactions between phosphates and metal oxides under hydrothermal conditions. Graduate student Rosemary Harvey has just started work on one facet of the project and a postdoctoral fellow will be recruited early in the new year.
Krista Howe and Calvin Powell, students in the School of Music, participated in the Young Singers Competition at the D. F. Cook Recital Hall earlier this month. Ms. Howe took first prize in the senior division while Mr. Powell captured the junior division. The competition was sponsored by the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, with support from Petro-Canada.
Dr. Tahir Husain, Engineering and Applied Science, has received a research contract in the amount of approximately $300,000 from Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, based in Saudi Arabia. Dr. Husain will perform a three-year study on the development of a Risk Based Corrective Action (RBCA) computer model to assist in site remediation, or oil field cleanup. A former project manager for the Kuwaiti Oil Fires study, Dr. Husain’s model will determine the extent of contamination, associated risk, and availability of remediation technologies in order to target site-appropriate solutions and optimize extent of cleanup. With the aid of a database enabling site prioritizing and information tracking, the MUN professor hopes his work will make the process of risk assessment faster, more effective, and more economical. The grant is seen as a coup for the department insofar as it heralds what many hope will be the first of many technology transfers between Newfoundland and Labrador’s burgeoning oil and gas industry and the more established Saudi enterprise.
Dr. David Wright, chairman of the Harlow Campus Trust and an honorary graduate of Memorial, received a MBE in the United Kingdom’s New Year’s Honours List for services to the community of Harlow in Essex. Dr. Wright is a founding trustee of the university’s Harlow Campus Trust and received an honorary doctor of laws from Memorial in 1999.
The 1999 Awards for Excellence in Chemistry were recently presented at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook. Amanda Bromley of Croque received the North Star Cement Award for the highest average in first-year chemistry. Sheldon Huelin of Robinsons received the Fisher Scientific Award for the highest average in second-year chemistry. Mr. Huelin also recently received the National Canadian Portland Cement Association scholarship for environmental chemistry and the Wabush Mines Environmental Sciences Scholarship. The Silver Medal of the Chemical Institute of Canada for excellence in third year environmental chemistry went to Tara Smith of St. Anthony. This year, the fourth year award in environmental chemistry was shared between David Sampson of Port Hope Simpson and Stephen Regular of Baie Verte.
Researchers
recognized by MRC
(L-R): Dr. Henry Friesen, president, Medical Research Council of Canada, Dr. Brosnan, Dr. Mookerjea and Dr. Keough.
The Medical Research Council of Canada recognized Dr. John Brosnan, current head of the Department of
Biochemistry; Dr.
Sailen Mookerjea, retired
faculty member and professor emeritus; and Dr. Kevin Keough, Memorial’s vice-president (research and
international relations), for receiving continuing funding for
more than 25 years from the MRC. The MRC is one of the most demanding
research funding councils in the country; only about 35 per cent
of all applicants actually succeed in getting funding. Dr. Brosnan
has received continuous funding from MRC since 1973, and his
current grant runs until 2004. Dr. Mookerjea received his first
grant in 1965 and received continuous funding for 31 years. Dr.
Keough has received continuous funding from MRC since 1972 and
his current funding runs until 2002. Notably, all three are with
the Department of Biochemistry (Drs. Keough and Mookerjea are
also former department heads). Dr. Verna Skanes was also recognized
at that dinner for her service as regional director of the MRC.